Daily News Briefing: Music, Tech, and Africa (07/20/22)
Amuse, now majority-owned by the UK’s Bridford Group, posts 61.5% revenue growth in 2021
The Swedish independent music distributor / artist services firm has posted net revenue for 2021 of 261.6 million SEK (approximately USD $25.6m at current exchange rates).
That was up by 61.5% YoY, versus 161.9 million SEK in 2020, according to financial results filed in Sweden for the company’s 2021 calendar year ended December 31, and obtained by MBW.
Source: Music Business Worldwide
Apple Music Live to stream Luke Combs concert in August
Country singer Luke Combs is the next artist to be featured in the Apple Music Live concert streaming lineup. The concert takes place at Coyote Joe’s in Charlotte, North Carolina on July 28 and will be streamed exclusively on Apple Music on August 24.
Source: 9to5Mac
Spotify’s Intentions Around ‘Gender-Inclusive Language’ on Our Platform in Germany
German-language speakers who want to utilize gender-responsible language can pay attention to using gender-neutral formulations and avoid using the generic masculine as default. In Germany, individuals and organizations have started to address this in a few ways. And as of January 2020, Spotify has decided to use an asterisk (*) to denote gender on the Spotify app in Germany. We chose this because it best explicitly addresses people who do not want to or cannot identify as male or female.
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Source: Spotify
Ready, Set, Shop on YouTube with Shopify
And today, we’re announcing our partnership with Shopify to enable creators and merchants to easily feature their products across their YouTube channels and content. Now eligible creators can link their Shopify store to their YouTube channel in just a few steps.
Source: YouTube
An update on Google Play billing in the EEA
As part of our efforts to comply with these new rules, we are announcing a new program to support billing alternatives for EEA users. This will mean developers of non-gaming apps can offer their users in the EEA an alternative to Google Play's billing system when they are paying for digital content and services.
Developers who choose to use an alternative billing system will need to meet appropriate user protection requirements, and service fees and conditions will continue to apply in order to support our investments in Android and Play. When a consumer uses an alternative billing system, the service fee the developer pays will be reduced by 3%. Since 99% of developers currently qualify for a service fee of 15% or less, those developers would pay a service fee of 12% or lower based on transactions through alternative billing for EEA users acquired through the Play platform.
Source: Google